Kaelith
The bond returns in pieces.
Pain first. Then rage. Then her.
Weak. Distant. Alive.
The realization tears through me so violently the trees around us ignite. Fire explodes outward in a brutal wave, scorching bark black as wolves stagger backward from the heat.
No one speaks. No one tries to stop it.
Because every person standing in the ruined forest can feel the same thing I do.
She’s gone.
The symbol carved into the tree still glows faintly silver against the bark. Wrong. Ancient magic hums through the clearing like rot beneath skin.
Lucien crouches beside the mark, silver power flickering around his fingers as he studies it without touching. Cassian scans the surrounding forest with military precision, already tracking movement patterns and escape routes. Eryndor has stop
